Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)

"Hurt"
Promotional single by Nine Inch Nails
from the album The Downward Spiral
ReleasedApril 17, 1995 (1995-04-17)
Studio
Genre
Length6:12
Label
Songwriter(s)Trent Reznor
Producer(s)Trent Reznor
The Downward Spiral track listing
14 tracks
  1. "Mr. Self Destruct"
  2. "Piggy"
  3. "Heresy"
  4. "March of the Pigs"
  5. "Closer"
  6. "Ruiner"
  7. "The Becoming"
  8. "I Do Not Want This"
  9. "Big Man With A Gun"
  10. "A Warm Place"
  11. "Eraser"
  12. "Reptile"
  13. "The Downward Spiral"
  14. "Hurt"
Audio
"Hurt" on YouTube

"Hurt" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from its 1994 studio album The Downward Spiral—where it is the closing song on the album—written by Trent Reznor. It was subsequently released on April 17, 1995, as a promotional single from the album, wherein it was issued straight to radio.[3] The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996. In 2020, Kerrang and Billboard ranked the song number two and number three, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.[4][5]

In 2002, American country singer Johnny Cash covered "Hurt" to commercial and critical acclaim. The related music video is considered one of the greatest of all time by publications such as NME. Reznor praised Cash's interpretation of the song for its "sincerity and meaning", going so far as to say "that song isn't mine anymore".[6]

  1. ^ "The 95 Best Alternative Rock Songs of 1995". Spin. August 6, 2015. p. 4. Retrieved September 18, 2020.
  2. ^ Edwards 2009, pp. 59–60
  3. ^ "Nine Inch Nails".
  4. ^ Law, Sam (August 7, 2020). "The 20 greatest Nine Inch Nails songs – ranked". Kerrang. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  5. ^ Unterberger, Andrew (November 5, 2020). "The 25 Best Nine Inch Nails Songs: Staff Picks". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
  6. ^ Rickly, Geoff (June 26, 2004). "Geoff Rickly Interviews Trent Reznor". Alternative Press. Cleveland, OH. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved August 9, 2018.